Everything's coming up rosé | Print |
Thursday, 17 June 2010

Pink drink's sales are deservedly on the rise

Yes, it's the annual call to rally to rosé. The LCBO recently expanded its listings of rosés, which is fairly limited during the cooler months.

Now that the weather is warming up, we start cooling down our wine, and rosé is often a terrific choice.

Actually, I think rosé is a great choice all year round, for drinking on its own or with many kinds of food. It sounds obvious to say that rosé can be a nice middle ground between white and red, but it's not something everyone appreciates. It's not the colour, but the fact that rosé wines often deliver a style that sits between white and red; there are rosés that you would swear were reds if you tasted them blind (that is, if you couldn't see the colour).

I think a lot more people must be drinking rosé all year round, because its sales began to take off a few years ago, and they're still going strong, but spring and summer are still the key seasons. Sales of rosé wines in the LCBO during April and May this year were almost double sales in those months last year. Of course, spring this year has been warmer and there are more rosé wines in the LCBO now than in 2009, but the increase reflects a broad trend.

Why is rosé increasingly popular? Are more people appreciating it or are fewer worried about being seen sipping it? Let's face it, rosé occupied a sort of ghetto for a long time. It was associated with sweetness, an association reinforced by white zinfandel. (Ever wondered why a rosé wine would be called 'white?') Assumed sweetness (and the colour) led many men to think that rosé was a wine for women. No manly man would be caught dead with a glass of the pink drink in his hand.

Maybe we've overcome some of these prejudices, although prejudices die very slowly in the world of wine. How many times have I been told that someone doesn't like German wine because it's so sweet? Or doesn't like chardonnay because it's so oaky? But more and more of us seem to have overcome the gender stereotyping of rosé. Either that, or it's more women driving all these extra rosé sales.

The fact is that rosé, like white wine, comes in many styles, from bone-dry to sweet. There's a distinct trend towards dry rosés, though, and I think most of the rosés in the LCBO are dry or nearly so. They all make excellent partners with food. I like to drink a bold, dry rosé with red meat during summer. Those with a little sweetness are good drunk on their own or with spicy barbecued chicken or pork.

So if you're not usually a rosé-drinker, try a few of the many rosés while there's a good selection. They're drawn from many countries and many varieties and you'll soon appreciate the wide range of styles and flavours -- and shades of pink.
 
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